The Past Ahead - an Empires SMP AU

Chapter 14 - Unusual visitors

           "Can I keep this? At least for a little bit?" False asked, picking up the kettle and inspecting it. It looked usable. "Sure, but why do you want a kettle?" Lizzie asked. False related the story of the strange notes, and while the axolotl Lizzie looked confused, the cat Lizzie began nodding. "Oh, of course, the Fae." "The what?" Lizzie and False asked at the same time. "The Fae. They're these mysterious beings that pop up around all the empires from time to time. They ask us to do random errands for them, and if we don't then they'll bother us until we do, but when we do what they asked then they usually give us stuff in return." Mayor Lizzie explained. "I've got a whole district in Animalia where only Fae live." "So the Fae want a kettle?" "Yes, that's what the note said." "Can we come along?" "Uh, sure, why not?"

           As they climbed up the mountain near Dawn's gate, they could hear someone shouting at the top. They walked faster, and found Princess Gem holding a note in her hand with a weird look on her face. "I can't tell them! I can't," She repeated, and then blanched as she caught sight of False and the Lizzies. She stepped backward. "What are you doing here?" "False got a note from the Fae too," Lizzie said, nodding at the architect. False waved the note around and realized that now she had gotten another one from the Fae. "Thank you for coming, forgetful creature," She read aloud. "And we see you have brought the furry creature and her past self with you. However, we see the kettle, but we do not see the tea." False blinked, feeling embarrassed. She'd been so worried about not finding a kettle that she hadn't thought about tea. 

           Then Gem got another note too and read it aloud. "Sweet creature, tell the forgetful creature that we do not mind her forgetting the tea, and that we had asked you to bring it because we anticipated this." With that, Gem reached into her pocket and pulled out a few homemade teabags full of tealeaves. The girls stuffed ice and snow from the mountain into the kettle, with reassurances that once it boiled then the water would be safe to drink, and hung the kettle over the fire. As the water boiled, they chatted over why there were here. 

           "We were having a pranking spree to celebrate the end of our ridiculous feud," Lizzie was saying, and the other Lizzie nodded. "Then we found False looking for a kettle and tagged along." "The Fae asked me to bring a kettle and tea here so they could... talk to me, I guess. They said they wanted company and help, but I don't really know for what." False said, and then they looked at Gem, waiting for why she was there. Gem hesitated before speaking. 

           "The first note only asked for tealeaves. That was because they expected False to forget, I suppose. Then I got a second note here telling me to not be afraid about telling my secret." She glanced at the rest of them but they said nothing, just waited for her to continue. "How do you think everyone would react if I told them a really big secret?" "Well, considering they're fine with me secretly being a cat the whole time, I'm pretty sure they'd be fine with whatever secret you have, Gem." Mayor Lizzie stated. "I don't know you future emperors that well, but if they're anything like the ones from my time, they'll be pretty okay with whatever you're going to share." The Ocean Queen said. 

           "And um, I don't know everyone that well either, but considering they let me stay around even after... everything... that should say something about how they accept friends." False added awkwardly. Lizzie and Gem nodded in understanding. Not everyone knew the full details of what False had been up to, but everyone got the gist of the dangers and knew that there was something very, very off about her. "But I can't tell anyone. I can't," Gem protested again, although to False she sounded less and less sure of her words. She sighed and shrugged, her butterfly wings drooping.